A wide variety of medical devices are known, which are adapted for implantation or insertion into the human body. Examples include catheters, cannulae, metal wire ligatures, stents, balloons, filters, scaffolding devices, coils, valves, grafts, plates, and other prosthesis which are adapted for implantation or insertion into various bodily locations, including the heart, coronary vasculature, peripheral vasculature, lungs, trachea, esophagus, intestines, stomach, brain, liver, kidney, bladder, urethra, ureters, eye, pancreas, ovary, and prostate.
In many instances, such medical devices are equipped for the delivery of therapeutic agents. For example, an implantable or insertable medical device, such as a stent or a catheter, may be provided with a polymer matrix that contains a therapeutic agent. Once the medical device is placed at a desired location within a patient, the therapeutic agent is released from the polymer matrix and into the patient, thereby achieving a desired therapeutic outcome.
Regardless of whether or not the implantable or insertable medical device is adapted for release of a therapeutic agent, the material disposed at surface regions of the medical device that come into contact with the body must be reasonably biocompatible for the intended use of the device. The present invention is directed to increasing the biocompatibility of such surface regions.